1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a machine for saw sizing lumber and, in particular, to a machine suitable for use at lumber yards and retail locations.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
Saw-sized lumber is commonly used where a roughened texture or rustic appearance is desired. Traditionally, saw-sizing of lumber is accomplished when the lumber is cut at the lumber mill and the saw-sized lumber is only available by special order, often requiring advanced orders and special handling.
Some attempts have been made to provide machines and tools capable of saw-sizing lumber at remote locations. Saws which are used at lumber mills for this purpose are not suited for resurfacing of smooth surfaced lumber as these saws must remove a substantial thickness from each side of the lumber. Typical of recent attempts is that represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,512 which discloses a saw-sizing hand tool. While this device is suited for on-site dressing of lumber at a construction site, it is not well suited for resurfacing large quantities of lumber. Some attempts have also been made using circular saws with special settings of the teeth of the saw to achieve a roughened surface appearance. Use of circular saw blades in this fashion, however, is not desirable as the finished product has residual circular saw cuts or patterns, thereby detracting from the appearance of the product.
Other attempts have been made to use conventional bandsaws to surface dress lumber, usually by passing the lumber against the back side of a bandsaw blade which is at a slight incident angle to the lumber. This method is not usually satisfactory as it is inefficient, requiring four separate passes of the lumber for complete surface dressing, and is thus very labor intensive. Additionally, manual feeding of the lumber is not desirable as irregularities in the feeding rate can cause objectionable grooves and saw patterns on the surface of the lumber.